Nice to hear that you've lost weight, Retro. But did you lose fat, or muscle?Muscle weighs a lot more than fat. And you don't want to lose muscle. Best way to lose muscle is to sit around all day, and not eat.

alan wrote:Nice to hear that you've lost weight, Retro. But did you lose fat, or muscle?

Definitely fat, but muscle, I don't know... I've not benchmarked any of that, nor really am I overly concerned since I'm feeling fine and I do at least as much exercise (granted, still not much) as I did previously. Oh, and I've bowled a few 200+ games lately (and even bowled 9 games back-to-back last Sunday morning!) so I'm certainly not falling apart at the seams.

Metta,Retro.

"When we transcend one level of truth, the new level becomes what is true for us. The previous one is now false. What one experiences may not be what is experienced by the world in general, but that may well be truer. (Ven. Nanananda)

“I hope, Anuruddha, that you are all living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.” (MN 31)

manasikara wrote:Ah, coffee...the noble bean, dispeller of torpor! The black drink that zaps light into tired neurons! Where would I be without it... ( --> )

Less agitated!

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

I think that this is not too skilful to depend on some substances in meditation - like coffee or analgesics or whatever.

The right way to overcome sloth and torpor is to clean the mind with the help of Dhamma.As I found out, when I'm slack in my practice, sloth and torpor overwhelms my mind. But if I keep on being mindful and meditate 1-2 hours a day - then I'm free of sloth and torpor all the time, every day, both in and out of meditation, and sometimes it is even difficult to fall asleep because of the aroused inner energy ,)

Zom wrote:I think that this is not too skilful to depend on some substances in meditation - like coffee or analgesics or whatever.

The right way to overcome sloth and torpor is to clean the mind with the help of Dhamma.As I found out, when I'm slack in my practice, sloth and torpor overwhelms my mind. But if I keep on being mindful and meditate 1-2 hours a day - then I'm free of sloth and torpor all the time, every day, both in and out of meditation, and sometimes it is even difficult to fall asleep because of the aroused inner energy ,)

Hi Zom,I'm well aware of the Buddha's instructions for the dispelling of sloth and torpor, and caffeine wasn't on the list as I recall. Yeah, I guess I'm just imperfect. It could also have to do with my often unusual and disruptive routines, however. (May I ask if you have kids to look after, for example?) Furthermore, you took what I said the wrong way, I'm not 'depending' on caffeine in the way you seem to think, although as I said in my capricious way, it does seem to have it's uses sometimes. But I really have to be more careful what I write here, as I guess on an online forum people will take things literally, and miss (my obviously failed attempt at) irony. Anyway, we should be here to encourage, rather then criticize each other, so - I'm glad to hear you are able to deal with this issue well, very good.

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

"When we transcend one level of truth, the new level becomes what is true for us. The previous one is now false. What one experiences may not be what is experienced by the world in general, but that may well be truer. (Ven. Nanananda)

“I hope, Anuruddha, that you are all living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.” (MN 31)

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

However, no, she does not meditate at all - these couple of shots where taken when she was going to parody my own sittings )) But anyway, she is a wise, she does understand many important Dhammas and she even maganes to control her negative states, replacing them with positive ones - by her own.

There is one more, very interesting and I must say, astonishing picture. This she painted a year ago, when she was five. You will never guess what is that. Her explanation was the following: Here is a girl (only one girl, not two). This girl has a cat. When the mind of the girl is defiled - then she beats this cat with a broom while the cat is trying to get some food. However, if the mind is not defiled, she smiles and feeds the cat by herself. Four baloons mean the quantity of defilements in the mind. The first one has too much inside, so this is bad (marked by "X"). The second one has a bit less, but still doesn't fit (also marked by "X"). The third one has only a tiny piece of defilements - but even this is not enough (marked by "X"). While the last one, near the smiling girl, is OK, has no defilements and marked by "V").

Last edited by Zom on Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

The page that comes up for me in the link, appears to be a log-in page in a non-english language.

with mettaChris

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

fxam wrote:What portion size do you have when you practice one meal a day?Do you eat until you feel very full (to 'cover' the hungriness at night), or just enough?Do you chew throughoutly?

I just eat enough. I stop eating just a bit before I feel full and drink a glas of water or two afterwards.When you're not accustomed to eating once a day you may feel hungry first but your body will adjust to the new situation in a few days.

fxam wrote:What portion size do you have when you practice one meal a day?Do you eat until you feel very full (to 'cover' the hungriness at night), or just enough?Do you chew throughoutly?

I just eat enough. I stop eating just a bit before I feel full and drink a glas of water or two afterwards.When you're not accustomed to eating once a day you may feel hungry first but your body will adjust to the new situation in a few days.

best wishes, acinteyyo

Thanks, what do you drink between the only meal and the next meal, only plain water?